When Jerry woke up an hour later, he was mostly disappointed he hadn’t met a cool biker dude and missed my cage match with understandable language. To the plan of getting off in Cincinnati, he merely shrugged and said he didn’t have a better idea, but the way he pulled out his laptop and typed a few messages afterward had me curious. I knew he had a group of online friends scattered throughout the country, but our luck would have to be on another level for one of them to actually live in Cincinnati. Danielle and I busied ourselves looking for a place to stay once we got there and any general information about the city. We might have only had a few hours to pull something together, but going in blind was just asking for trouble. We had enough of that already.
Three AM was not generally the recommended time to arrive in a new city. I’m pretty sure that went double if you had never been there before and had only managed to book a cheap hotel room an hour before you arrived. So when the train rolled to a stop and we gathered our things, we were already decidedly in dangerous territory. Train travel wasn’t exactly the most popular in the age of airplanes, so of course there were no convenient cabs waiting outside the station to ferry us to our hotel. If any of us had really been thinking ahead, we would have installed a rideshare app and tried our luck, though it was late enough that there might not have been any takers even in a big city. Instead, with all the reckless courage and disregard for our own mortality that teenagers are known for, Jerry, Danielle, and I set off walking.
The atmosphere of the city this late at night was best described as eerie. Orangish streetlights provided pools of illumination like lilypads in a lake of shadows. Business fronts were shut up tight. The silence was a tangible presence coating the street, made all the more unsettling by the urban environment. At least out in the woods I would expect mostly silence once it gets dark, but in a city without any of the background sounds of nature, it becomes all the more oppressive. On the plus side, it made any disruptions to that silence all the more obvious.
That disruption came in the form of two shambling bodies emerging from around the corner when we were halfway down the block. My mind first jumped to thinking they were zombies, apparently on overdrive from the post-apocalyptic feeling of a mostly silent city. My second thought was the accurate and arguably more dangerous conclusion: drunks. At least zombies could be counted on to attack and go for brains and biting if movies and TV were to be believed. Drunks could do that too, but they could also act like your best friend, start singing karaoke, profess undying love, or vomit on your shoes. From the giggles and shoves these two disheveled men were tossing back and forth, I was betting on them trying to act like our new best friend with a side of shoe-vomit.
“Heeeeey!” The one on the left shouted an elongated greeting. “Who’s’re youse guys?”
All of us paused, and I could see Danielle’s expression hardening into her ice queen facade even as Jerry’s softened, seemingly consciously mirroring the drunks. I found myself caught somewhere in the middle, ending up in the neighborhood of baffled. It was a Goldilocks situation: Danielle might brush them off too curtly and send their mood spiraling toward aggression, Jerry’s friendly approach might make them start tailing us, and I hoped my confused surface-level greetings would be just right to send them on their way quickly. Whatever way it worked, we were about to find out as they stumbled closer, the scent of cheap whiskey rolling off them in waves.
“Hi there fellas.” Jerry took the lead, holding his hands out wide in greeting. “Looks like you’ve had quite the night!”
“Hah! And it ain’t over yet, jus gotta find the place…” The second drunk trailed off, one hand absentmindedly trying to smooth out a rumpled outfit that might have been stylish when he went out to hit the town five or six hours ago but at this point was soaked through with sweat and spilled drinks.
Danielle very deliberately turned her head up and down the street, decidedly not a hopping nightlife hotspot. “I fear you may have gotten a bit lost along the way.” She said stiffly.
“And I fear you got a stick up your ass!” The first one shouted. I had to give him credit, a surprisingly coherent comeback for someone who had passed three sheets to the wind a long while back and was now probably between five and six. His companion barked a laugh and threw a wild punch toward his drinking buddy’s shoulder. It completely whiffed, but it was enough to make me try to level things out. Didn’t want any limbs flying toward any of us.
“Ah, it’s fine.” I said, trying to modulate my voice to slur just a bit and throwing an arm over Danielle’s shoulder. “She’s just tired, gotta get home to do this again tomorrow!” My drunk act was amateurish at best, having only experienced the real thing twice at cast parties. Each time had been followed by an absolutely miserable hangover, turning me off from alcohol in general. Maybe the cheap booze high schoolers could get on the sly was to blame, but I wasn’t quite willing to risk a couple incoherent hours I could barely remember for an entire day of a splitting headache and stomach in full rebellion.
Danielle had stiffened further, but Jerry was willing to play along with my plan, slipshod as it was. “She’s a lightweight.” He said in that sort of conspiratorial whisper that isn’t a whisper at all, just a regular speaking voice with more breathy sibilance. “Gets real pissy once she’s tired.”
“Aww, c’mon.” The right one complained, proving his penchant for wild gesticulations by throwing both hands up and this time managing to smack his more verbally coherent friend. “Night’s still young, less have a little fun!” I didn’t like the way the left one’s eyes locked on Danielle’s chest as soon as his friend put the idea of fun out there. I liked the leer that crawled over his face even less.
Jerry subtly stepped in front of the two of us, disguising it as a little stumble and finger point toward the leering one. “You look familiar, you ever go to Brad’s?” Using the little shield and distraction Jerry had given us, I pulled Danielle back a step and grabbed my phone out of my pocket. I had no idea what to do with it at first; I had been relying on Jerry to navigate us to the hotel and observing the environment more than the specific street names. Jerry had done something to all of our phones to spoof location data, so I couldn’t exactly pull up the map app and relay that to 911. The cops wouldn’t make it in time anyway. I trusted that we were more coordinated as sleep-deprived teenagers than two drunk adults, but that didn’t mean I wanted to test my luck. It had been erratic enough lately.
“Who’s is Brad?” The less articulate drunk sputtered, going cross-eyed as he tried to focus on the tip of Jerry’s finger. The gesturing one just pushed it out of the way, almost unbalancing himself, and shoved his own finger in Jerry’s chest.
“Step back.” The drunk’s voice had gone growly, and I could feel the situation spinning out of control. “We jus wanna have a little fun and you wouldn’t be out here if you wasn’t lookin for a good time. So howsabout you jus let the little lady come party with us gents?” He smacked his lips as punctuation and I felt a shudder go down my spine. So much for misdirection. We’’d underestimated the fixation these drunks apparently had, and I unwrapped my arm from Danielle’s shoulder and squared my own to prepare for the inevitable confrontation. A few scattered stage fighting and dance lessons did not make for a viable combat stance, but I hoped I could at least knock them off-balance enough for us to run for it.
The revving of an engine cut through the mounting tension and I could see the two drunks squinting in the glare of a sudden oncoming headlight. I didn’t want to take my eyes off them, but this distraction was too good to pass up. I grabbed Danielle’s hand and ran to the side, incidentally exposing them to more of the headlight and further blinding them as we turned up the street. I aimed an awkward kick to the ankle of the less steady one and was rewarded with a wailing cry as his already swaying body went tumbling into his friend, cursing all the way down. I heard Jerry’s footsteps following behind even as the engine gave another loud rev, drowning out the shouts and scuffling efforts of the two drunks to disentangle themselves and give chase. We just ran, turning the corner and making it down another block before turning again to get out of sight, panting.
“Not.” Jerry took a few deep breaths. “Not exactly how I wanted to start things off.”
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“Agreed.” Danielle huffed. I just nodded, hands on my knees and breathing hard. The cold sensation of adrenaline was just starting to fade when that revving engine sounded again, sending a fresh jolt of ice through my veins.
A motorcycle pulled up at the corner of the side street we’d taken refuge in, its rider taking us in behind the tinted black glass of his helmet. I straightened up, keeping weight on the balls of my feet. Definitely couldn’t outrun a motorcycle, and the guy riding it was frankly huge. As my mind started whirling for any kind of plan, he brought his hands up and pulled off the helmet. I stared, dumbfounded.
“You alright, kid?” Rodney asked. “Shoulda told me you were getting off here, city’s not the safest at night.”
“I…” I sighed in relief. “Thanks for the save, man. I owe you one.”
“Bah.” He waved his hand. “Good Samaritan, remember? Paying it forward, all that jazz. These your friends? You got a place to hole up for the night?”
“We do, thank you.” Danielle stepped forward. “Rodney, was it?”
“That’s the name, kid.” Rodney nodded, then frowned. “Can’t call all three of you kid, can I? Hm. Girlie? Nah, that feels skeevy as hell.”
“You can call me Danielle.” She said, bemused.
“Sure thing, Dani-girl.” He replied. “Now I don’t wanna rush you or anything, but those fools will pick themselves up sooner or later and I doubt you really wanna hang out until that happens. Where you staying tonight?”
Jerry rattled off the name of our hotel and we found ourselves with an escort the rest of the way there. Despite my nervous glances over my shoulder, the two drunks never reappeared, apparently dissuaded by a huge man on a motorcycle and whatever he’d said to them before catching up with us. Rodney kept up a running commentary the whole way, filling the nighttime silence with idle chatter about bits of the city we should check out or stay away from in the future. Danielle gave the appropriate noises of confirmation and interest, apparently falling back on her trained social graces as we all let the adrenaline drain out of our systems. A little less excitement would be welcome.
Another ten minutes saw us to the front of our hotel, and Rodney leveled me with a stern glare.
“Kid, I gave you my number for a reason. Don’t matter what it is, if you need help you call.” He sighed and his eyes went distant. “Seen too many people get chewed up and spit out when they strike out on their own. Kids always think they’re invincible. Hope this was enough of a wake-up call.”
I nodded, shamefaced. “Yeah. I just wasn’t thinking. Thanks for the rescue, Rodney.”
“Heh, it’s what I’m here for.” He paused, then nodded, seemingly making up his mind. “Text me right now, kid.” I did, and he grinned as his phone lit up with the message. “Perfect. I’ll meet you guys tomorrow, help you get your feet under you here. Don’t give me that face, it’s no skin off my back. Just being neighborly.”
“Mr. Rogers, eat your heart out.” Jerry snarked. Rodney just gave him a grin and a thumbs up before putting his helmet back on and rocketing into the night. I barely remembered the rest of the night, having gone well past frazzled and into that glorious state of overwhelmed exhaustion where buildings could be blowing up and I wouldn’t even notice. Presumably we checked into our rooms and I passed out, as my next coherent memory was cursed sunlight burrowing under my eyelids after far too little sleep.
I groaned, grabbing for a pillow to block out the light. A giggle reached my ears as I did, sufficient cause for me to abandon the going back to sleep plan in favor of glaring at whatever audacious morning person had the nerve to mock the rest of us mere mortals. This plan was apparently ineffectual, as Danielle dissolved into cackling at my drowsy ire. Goddamn morning people.
Resigning myself to getting up, I pushed aside the over-starched hotel sheets and yawned. “What time is it?” I managed to ask.
“Almost ten.” Danielle answered. “Jerry’s down raiding the continental breakfast before it closes.”
“And why are you up so early?”
“Early?” She raised her eyebrows.
“Are you really gonna sit there and tell me you haven’t been up since some ungodly hour?”
She sniffed. “I’ll have you know I slept in today.” I stared. “Until almost 8 o’clock.” She pouted.
“I suppose for your first day of freedom it’s a start.” I conceded.
“More the late hour and adrenaline crash, I think.” She shivered. “I knew those sorts of things happened in cities, but I’ve never had to directly confront it before.”
“With any luck, you won’t have to again.” She nodded at my words, but I could tell she wasn’t really reassured. I wasn’t either, to be fair. Glenbrook wasn’t the kind of town where you ran into a lot of drunks wandering the streets late at night. Our only bars were bar and grill type places and the lack of any real downtown hub made that sort of thing near impossible. We did have plenty of drunk drivers, arguably worse, but a worse that you didn’t have to confront face to face.
The door to our room swung open and I saw Jerry juggling three plates in one hand and somehow holding two cups of coffee in the other. I gave a quick thanks to fate or whatever had possessed him to bring me one. I doubted it was his List, and a glance at his wrist proved me right. With that thought in mind, I cast a look over at Danielle, but she had her hands folded in her lap such that I couldn’t see her left wrist. That was an awkward question for later, then. For now, coffee.
At the very least it was a step up from the dregs that Amtrak had provided, tasting more like hot brown water than any real coffee flavor. I mindlessly drank and picked at the paper plate of mini muffins and fruit, resolving to have an actual meal for lunch after scavenging meager travel-friendly options for most of the past day. Sated enough to function, I pulled out my phone to see a few new messages from Rodney.
“Alright.” I took one last swig, finishing the coffee and tossing the paper cup in the trash. “Rodney wants to meet over by Washington Park around lunch, says to bring our stuff and not argue because his wife will demand we stay with them tonight at the very least.” I looked up at the amused gazes of Jerry and Danielle. “Any objections?”
“Anyone who drives off creepy drunks looking to perv is cool in my book.” Jerry said. Danielle just nodded.
“Alright, I’ll tell him we’re in.” I sent off a confirmation text. “Next order of business: Danielle, did getting off the train here in Cincinnati tick off another point for you?”
“It did.” She held up her wrist, now sporting two tick marks. “I haven’t received my third point, so it must have happened while I was asleep.”
“Something to be on the lookout for, I suppose.” I frowned in thought. “Did you want to cover those up? It’s just, we look young and having two tick marks already might make you stand out. Especially if you’re around me with my eternal blanks.”
She pursed her lips. “I’ve been giving it some thought. I should probably change my look a bit. It’s unlikely to run across anyone who knows my face, but the Fulfiller circles my parents move in do have some reach. If I look less like the prim and proper princess they’re expecting, it may be enough for them to overlook me.”
“In other words, we plebians have already corrupted you. Down with the bourgeoise!” Jerry laughed. “Can’t wait to see what you come up with, miss prez.”
“Oh, I have a few ideas.” She said drolly, smirking as she caught my eye. No. She wouldn’t. I don’t think my heart could take it, but my eyes very much wanted to see it.
“Right.” I coughed. “I guess we should head out, then? Anything else we need to do before that?”
Jerry shook his head. “I checked in with my online network a little earlier. Got one local guy, but he’s a student at the university. Can’t exactly have the three of us roll up to his dorm without a lot of questions being asked, but he sent me a few places to check out while we’re here.” He paused. “How long are we staying here, anyway?”
I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. Right now we’re mostly going with the flow and whatever vague clues fate throws our way. Speaking of which…”
Jerry sighed. “Yeah, I got my second point. You’re not gonna like it.”
“Still, it would help us to know if. If you’re comfortable sharing.” Danielle said.
“Right. Fine.” He met my eyes, a shadow behind his own. “Leave him alone.”
There was silence for a good thirty seconds as the words sunk in. Theoretically, those words could apply to all kinds of situations. There could be someone in trouble and it was telling him to let someone else handle it, but Jerry didn’t have much of a hero complex for strangers. It could be a reminder not to needle the next person who got on his bad side, but there wasn’t much hope of that happening even if fate did desperately want it. No, as much as I didn’t want to admit it, Jerry probably had the intention behind it pegged. There was one person he’d want to go out of his way for, and he was in the room.
At some point soon, Fate wanted Jerry to leave me alone to face something without his backup.